Queensland's Islamic
community has vowed to stand
"shoulder to shoulder" with
"Christian brothers and
sisters" to protect asylum
seekers from being returned
to offshore detention
centres, "even if it means
our arrest".

Thanking the Christian
community for its leadership
on the issue, spokesman for
the Islamic Council of
Queensland Ali Kadri, said
the state's Islamic
community, including the
Islamic Shia Council of
Queensland, stood behind the
offer to offer sanctuary to
refugees under threat of
being returned to Manus
Island and Nauru after last
week's High Court decision.

In response Anglican
leaders, including Dean of
Brisbane Reverend Dr Peter
Catt, invoked the
centuries-old concept of
sanctuary, offering to throw
open church doors to the
nearly 270 asylum seekers,
including infants, who had
come to Australia for
medical treatment.

While thousands attended
'let them stay' rallies
across Australia, Mr Kadri
said after meetings with the
Muslim community in
Brisbane, Slacks Creek and
Logan Mosques would also be
opened to those seeking
refuge.

"This is an issue which
transcends race, religion
and ethnicity," he said.

"We commend the leadership
shown by the leaders of the
Christian community and as
people of faith, we stand
with them.

"We will offer the same
thing in two of mosques and,
if asylum seekers enter Dr
Catt's church, I will go and
stand in solidarity with our
Christian brothers and
sisters, I will stand right
next to Peter Catt, shoulder
to shoulder and if I am
arrested, so be it. And I am
not the only one.

"It is the right thing to
do. As people of faith, we
all believe God has created
us, and we should live as
God intends, showing
compassion.

"I think Australians, the
majority of Australians are
compassionate people, but I
can't say the same of the
majority of politicians. It
is about time we had
politicians reflecting the
views of the electorates
they represent.

"Having some premiers come
out and say they will take
refugees is great, but it is
a shame that we have a Prime
Minister and a Leader of the
Opposition who are adamant
on this issue.

"We hope they will make a
decision which is
compassionate and let them
stay."

Islamic communities from
Townsville to Toowoomba have
pledged their support and,
Mr Kadri said, extended
their thanks for Dr Catt and
his supporters "for their
courage and compassion".

"We have so much respect
for what they are doing, for
the stance they have taken,"
he said.

"There are 30,000 asylum
seekers in Australia. I know
a lot personally, and they
are great people, who are
not burdens, but have
contributed a lot to this
nation. Another 267 or so
more would not be a burden
and we should support them.

"I think the way we are
going, a future Prime
Minister will have to make
an apology to another
generation for stealing
their childhood because of
this policy. But we know
what is happening now.

The Islamic College of
Brisbane has been forced to
overhaul its financial
management and governance
after it was warned about
potential misuse of federal
funds.

The Federal Department of
Education and Training is
reviewing the finances of
six school authorities
affiliated with the
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils (AFIC).

One of those schools, the
Malek Fahd School in New
South Wales, had its funding
revoked this week.

The Islamic College of
Brisbane's principal, Dr Ray
Barrett, said the Federal
Government put the school on
notice after a Deloitte
audit commissioned by the
Government last year.

He said the audit flagged
problems with rent being
paid to the AFIC without a
formal service agreement and
an unpaid loan to the AFIC
of more than $500,000
without paperwork to explain
its purpose, between 2012
and 2015.

Schools cannot stay open
without state and federal
funding

Dr Barrett said the school's
financial management had
been overhauled and was now
dealt with separately to
AFIC.

"The situation is that AFIC
is the landlord and the
school and the local board
run the school.

"AFIC owns the land on which
the schools are built. It's
quite legitimate commercial
practice to pay rent on
that," he said.

"But the audit has said the
documentation on that leaves
a bit to be desired."

Dr Barrett said the school
board has also asked AFIC to
provide paperwork for the
$500,000 loan.

He said the school, which
has more than 1,100
students, could not stay
open without state and
federal funding and the
school was working with the
Federal Government to remedy
any problems.

"That's why the board has
worked very hard since the
early days of the audit to
make sure we were putting
things in place. You could
see things needed to be done
and we started doing that
straight away," he said.

In a statement, a spokesman
for the Department of
Education and Training said
the school's response was
being considered and a final
decision on future funding
had yet to be made.

GATTON: IF the Gatton Family
Health Clinic can raise
$5000 before March 10, a
doctor and a nurse will lose
their hair as part of the
World's Greatest Shave.

While Dr Mohammed Sultan
will lose his hair
regardless of the funds
raised, practice nurse
Neridah Bryant's fate will
depend on how much money is
raised for the Leukaemia
Foundation.

Mrs Bryant is confident her
hair will stay, but
reception manager Ellisha
Freeman believes otherwise.
"She's confident her hair
will stay, but I think she
should be scared," Ms
Freeman said.

It's the first time Mrs
Bryant could lose her locks
but for Dr Sultan the
clippers won't be an issue
for his third shave.

He said having lots of
patients affected by cancers
inspired his first shave in
2007.

"I'm not particularly
nervous, it's exciting
because it's for a good
cause," he said.
One of Dr Sultan's patients,
hairdresser Cassie Morris,
has volunteered to do the
honours of shaving her
doctor's head.

Joining in on the action,
newly appointed Doctor,
Richardy Hostiadi, was roped
in to colour his hair along
with Leanne Ramsay and Ms
Freeman.

The Family Health Clinic are
no strangers to raising
funds for charities.

Last year they raised more
than $6000 for Buy-a-Bale.
The team will go under the
shavers or the spray cans on
March 10 at 10.30am in the
arcade.

The Malek Fahd Islamic School
will lose its government funding
due to concerns about how it is
managing its finances.

NSW: The Federal Government
has axed funding to an
Islamic school in Sydney's
south-west, saying it failed
to address concerns about
how the money was being
spent.

The Malek Fahd Islamic
School, which has several
campuses including its
largest one in Greenacre,
and more than 2,400
students, received $19
million in funding from the
Government in the past year.

Education Minister Simon
Birmingham said the
Government would stop
funding the school, starting
from April 8, because the
money was not being spent
only on education.

The decision comes after a
review into six school
authorities affiliated with
the Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils (AFIC),
after concerns were raised
about the group profiting
from taxpayer funds
distributed to the schools.

"We have very strong
standards in place, which we
expect of all schools in
receipt of federal funding,"
Mr Birmingham said.

"Those standards require
schools to operate on a
not-for-profit basis, and to
dedicate all funding
received to the benefit,
welfare and educational
advancement of the students
to ensure that they are
independent in their
operations.

"This should not be seen as
a matter relating to Islamic
schools, this is a matter
relating to school
governance."

Mr Birmingham said the NSW
Department of Education had
been considering what
contingency plans could be
put in place if the school
was to close and he was
confident the students would
find places in local
schools.

He said the authority that
operates Malek Fahd Islamic
School was not able to
demonstrate to the
department that they had
addressed the significant
concerns about their
financial management and
governance arrangements
raised during the formal
compliance review of their
operations.

"Last year the department
issued a formal compliance
notice when it found that
the school authority was not
complying with fundamental
governance, financial and
accountability requirements
of the Australian Education
Act 2013," he said.

"After carefully considering
the response to the issues
raised in the compliance
notice, my department had to
make the difficult decision
to revoke the funding
approval.

"The act requires, amongst
other obligations, that all
school authorities operate
not-for-profit, be a 'fit
and proper person' and
ensure that funding provided
is used only for school
education."

A statement from Malek
Fahd's legal representatives
said the school would be
asking for the decision to
be reviewed.

"The board of Malek Fahd
hope and expect that the
outcome of the review will
be favourable," the
statement said.

"In the meantime, the school
will continue to function
normally.

"It should be noted that
additional evidence may and
will be provided by MFIS at
the review."

School not 'embezzling
money': official

Mohammad Berjaoui, vice
president of AFIC in the
Australian Capital
Territory, said the
organisation would comply
with every rule and
regulation the Government
wants them to comply with.

"The money that we're
getting for the school, it
is all going to education,"
Mr Berjaoui said.

"We have bought two blocks
of land, including a block
of land in Hoxton Park,
which now has more than 800
students and the other one
has more than 400 to 500
students.
"The land ... cost $6
million to $7 million, I'm
not sure and to build on it
was also a few million.

"Probably the management, it
has not been done to the
satisfaction of the
Commonwealth, we'll look
into it.

"But, believe me, there is
no embezzlement, there is no
money paid for favours, the
money which Malek Fahd
school gets, it goes into
education.

"We will work very hard to
fulfil the Federal
Government requirements,
it's taking us a long time
to do it, but we will do it.

"We had a few people at
Malek Fahd who were not
capable of running the
school, we have gotten rid
of them and things will get
better very, very soon."

The NSW Department of
Education said they would
"continue to work with the
Commonwealth Department of
Education and Training on
these matters".

A statement from the
Department of Education said
it was continuing its
compliance assessment of
another five school
authorities affiliated with
AFIC, which include the
Islamic College of Brisbane,
the Islamic College of
Melbourne, the Islamic
College of South Australia,
the Islamic School of
Canberra and Langford
Islamic College, in Western
Australia.

Hundreds of teachers' jobs
on the line

John Quessy the NSW and ACT
secretary of the Independent
Education Union said the
school may have to close.

"We'll need to seek a
meeting with the school to
find out will they still be
operating," Mr Quessy said.

"It's quite a dramatic move,
recurrent funding is usually
used to pay teacher and
staff wages.

"Malek Fahd is quite a big
school, we're talking about
hundreds of jobs."

He said the union would be
seeking urgent discussions
with the school about how
the teachers would continue
to be paid.

"We'll be questioning the
ongoing employment of the
significant number of
members we have at the
school," he said.

"I have every expectation
the operators of the school
will challenge this
finding."

In December last year, the
ABC obtained leaked
documents alleging some AFIC
representatives had received
up to $500,000 of the
funding distributed to its
schools.

The documents showed that a
$1.4 million loan was issued
from the Malek Fahd school
to AFIC, including hundreds
of thousands for
"unidentified services" to
representatives including
former project manager Amjad
Mehboob.

Mr Mehboob, who was involved
in setting up the school in
1989 said he was paid the
work that he did, but his
contract was terminated last
year after what he said was
a conflict with the current
administration.

"We were expecting this to
happen, because the current
leadership of the school and
the national body did not
listen to the requirements
of the Government or to what
the community was advising
them," Mr Mehboob said.

Mr Mehboob said the current
school administration had
"no idea" how to fix the
governance problems the
school was facing.

He said the loss of funding
was a tragedy for the school
and its students.

"It's a big disaster for the
community, which set up the
school at a great cost. You
can't have a worse
situation."

The federal charities
watchdog has launched a
sweeping investigation
intothe Australian
Federation of Islamic
Councils (Afic) that will
examine whether senior
figures may have
inappropriately used the
organisation’s funds for
overseas trips and lawyers’
fees.

Afic was notified in January
that the Australian
Charities and Not-for-profit
Commission (ACNC) was
launching an inquiry. The
investigation touches on a
range of governance and
accountabilities issues that
the ACNC have developed
concerns about.

The notice, which has been
obtained and published in
full by Guardian Australia,
alleges that: “The ACNC has
concerns that responsible
persons of Afic have
inappropriately used Afic
funds for their own private
benefits, including lawyers’
fees and overseas trips”.

It also expresses concerns
Afic “may not have accurate
written records of its
operations and finances”,
and had not taken reasonable
steps to ensure senior
members were “acting in
Afic’s best interests”; “not
misusing their position”;
not managing its financial
affairs irresponsibly; and
not managing or accounting
for conflicts of interests.

The charities commission has
demanded information from
the council about how key
operational and financial
decisions are made, what
systems are in place for
financial record keeping,
and who is authorised to
withdraw funds from the
schools the council
oversees.

Afic is involved in the
running of six Islamic
schools across Australia,
including the Malek Fahd
Islamic school in Sydney,
which the federal government
announced this week would be
stripped of $19m in federal
funding for “non-compliance”
with the Australian
Education Act.

The group, considered one of
the peak bodies representing
Muslims in Australia, also
runs a halal certification
services and schools in
Queensland, Western
Australia, South Australia
and the Australian Capital
Territory.
The charities commission has
sought information from the
council about key decisions
relating to its six schools,
including decisions of
financial support and
meeting minutes from general
meetings.

Some of those schools are
already under scrutiny from
state and federal education
authorities. The Islamic
College of South Australia,
another Afic school, has
been under scrutiny over
allegations surrounding its
record keeping.

Afic has been given until 19
February to provide the ACNC
with a raft of internal
records dating back to
December 2012, including
minutes of all meetings, all
expense vouchers or invoices
for official duties, details
of any travel, and all
policies and procedures in
relation to managing the
organisation’s finances.

If it fails to comply or is
found to have breached
federal charity regulations
Afic could lose its
not-for-profit status.

Afic is considered a
medium-size charity by the
ACNC, with annual revenue of
between $250,000 and
$999,999.

An ACNC spokeswoman told
Guardian Australia it was
unable to confirm on comment
on any compliance activity
due to secrecy laws.

The spokeswoman said: “The
ACNC takes all concerns
about registered charities
seriously. Where there is
evidence of serious
mismanagement or
misappropriation, a
persistent or deliberate
breach of the ACNC Act, or
where vulnerable people or
significant charitable
assets are at risk, the ACNC
will act firmly and
quickly.”

“Where appropriate the ACNC
will revoke a charity’s
status, which removes access
to the Commonwealth charity
tax concessions administered
by the Australian Taxation
Office.”

Afic and its president,
Hafez Kassem, have been
contacted for comment.

Hana Assafiri invites
‘generous and brilliant’
women to her Moroccan deli
in Melbourne every fortnight
for those who want to ‘ask a
Muslim anything’ in a bid to
create a more cohesive
society, one conversation at
a time.

Hana Assafiri knows how to
harness the power of women.
When she opened the now
renowned Moroccan Soup Bar
in Melbourne’s North Fitzroy
more than 15 years ago, she
employed impoverished women
struggling to break free
from a cycle of poverty and
domestic violence, teaching
them the skills to provide
affordable and nourishing
food to their communities.

Having recently opened an
off-shoot of the vegetarian
restaurant in Brunswick
East, called Moroccan Deli-Cacy,
Assafiri has once again
surrounded herself with
women, this time in a bid to
dispel myths around Muslims
and to create a more
cohesive society, one
conversation at a time.

Every fortnight at 3pm on a
Sunday, Muslim women gather
at the restaurant while
Assafiri brings out plates
of her famous Arabic
pastries and cups of tea.
But the people arriving are
not just here to eat.
They’re about to embark on a
round of “Muslim
speed-dating”, an event
dreamed up by Assafiri to
provide members of the
community an opportunity to
“ask a Muslim anything”.

Assafiri addresses the group
of about 30 men and women
who are gathered around the
tables and perched on
stools, with Muslim women
dotted between them.

“Nothing is off the table,
and your questions can
absolutely be frank and
candid,” Assafiri says.

“The only requirement is
that we are all respectful.
Respectfully, we can ask why
people wear the hijab, do
they sleep in it, do they
shower in it. The point of
this exercise is to break
down the divisions that
exist in this simplistic
environment that only seeks
to demonise and further
marginalise Muslim women.”

She makes it clear that each
woman is offering her own
point of view only, and is
not speaking for Islam or
Muslim people as a whole.
Finally, Assafiri says:
“There is nothing sacred
about the abuse of women
within Islam.

“If anybody puts forward a
view that accepts the
oppression, violation or
subjugation of women, then
that needs to be
interrogated and rejected.”
Here in Brunswick East, she
says, is a chance to “set
the agenda for the rest of
the country on how to create
a cohesive community and
have respectful
conversations”.

There is applause, and the
restaurant quickly fills
with conversation and
laughter. Unlike
conventional speed-dating,
where men rotate around the
room and approach a
different woman every few
minutes when a timer goes
off, Assafiri’s Muslim speed
dating is a more informal
affair.

Over the course of an hour,
men and women drift between
tables and in and out of
conversations with the
Muslim women. At one table,
people are contemplating
whether an atrocity like the
Cronulla riots could ever
happen in Melbourne. No one
really has an answer, but
seem to agree that tensions
today are different,
involving an added layer of
religious intolerance on top
of racial tensions.
At another table, a Muslim
woman, Toltu Tufa, is being
asked her thoughts on
WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.

But the conversations are
also intensely personal.
Husna Pasha, an Indian
Australian and Muslim, holds
a table rapt by her story of
arranging her own marriage
to a devout and conservative
Indian Muslim man at the age
of 20. She thought by
marrying her parents’
version of the ideal man,
they would be proud of her.

Pasha said her “bright,
bubbly, personality” was
swallowed by the devout
world she had entered, and
which didn’t fit with her
much more open view of being
a Muslim.

About two years into her
marriage, she broke down in
front of her dad, and
confessed that she wasn’t
happy.

“Dad said to me, ‘Did you
think this is what we wanted
for you? What would have
made me proud is for you to
be happy. We’ve made a
really big mistake here.
We’ve done the wrong thing
by you. You may become the
first divorcee in our
family, but you need to get
the hell out.’

“When he said that, it was
like being reborn.”

The experience led her to
create The Talk Show Series,
a collection of seminars and
videos to teach women
confidence and self-esteem.
Maria Dimopoulos, a
diversity and gender
equality consultant, is
attending Muslim
speed-dating for the second
time. After her first time,
she recalls a man saying to
her as he was leaving, “I
will never look at Muslim
women in the same way
again.”

“He had thought they
couldn’t think for
themselves and all just
obeyed their husbands. He
was proven so wrong.”

Dimopoulos says she had her
own questions for the women.

“I had wondered whether
Muslim women wearing a hijab
in some way compromised
feminism,” she says. “And
what I’ve learned is, of
course it doesn’t. It adds
another dimension to
feminism, it can be
empowering.”

Dimopoulos is at a table
speaking with Hanifa Deen, a
Muslim, author and editor of
Sultana’s Dream, an online
magazine written and
produced by Muslim women.
Deen doesn’t wear a burqa,
the one-piece veil that
covers the face and body, or
a hijab, the scarf that
covers only the hair and
neck.

Founder of
Muslim speed dating, Hana Assafiri (left)
with Toltu Tufa

“But if women want to wear
it, that’s their choice,”
she says.

“There’s nothing I
understand in the Qur’an
that calls for a hijab, it
only calls for modest
dressing. People might quote
Hadiths [a collection of
traditions containing
sayings of the prophet
Muhammad] and say the
Hadiths call for it. But
Hadiths were written only by
men. I do not agree with the
Hadiths either.”
Deen says one of the most
frustrating aspects of the
way issues relating to Islam
play out in the media is
that men are primarily
quoted as though they speak
for all Muslims.

“The media automatically
goes to the men for comment,
they ask the imams to talk
about Muslim issues,” she
says.

“People don’t ask women. We
need to bring out the Muslim
women.”

Assafiri agrees. It’s partly
the reason she has so far
only invited Muslim women to
be asked questions by
diners. She is aware that a
minority of people interpret
Islamic law in a way that
discriminates against women
and regards them as
subordinate. She told the
diners earlier in the night
such views should always be
challenged and were not
welcome in her restaurant.

“People say; ‘Why not men?’”
she says.

“For me, I work well with
women, because I don’t have
to start from the position
of challenging male ideology
and conceptions of Islam. We
start from a different
premise.
“A lot of the Muslim women
here I’ve known for years
and years and they are
generous and brilliant, and
sadly they haven’t been in
the limelight. I want to
give these women in our
communities a platform.”

Still, she knows that she
might struggle to change the
hearts and minds of fringe
groups who protest against
the building of mosques, or
of people who abuse and
assault Muslim people in the
streets. Those who attend
Muslim speed-dating are
largely those who already
have open minds. They come
because they want to
celebrate multiculturalism
and learn more about the
diversity in their
neighbourhood.

Nearly every Muslim woman
here has a story of being
verbally or physically
abused on the street. One,
Sareh Salarzadeh, a school
principal, says she had a
beer can thrown at her car
window while driving.
Another time, a motorist
tried to ram her off the
road. Compared to
experiences like those,
facing questions from
genuinely curious and
receptive diners is easy.

“We can’t wait for a Martin
Luther King or a Gandhi to
address the divisions in our
society,” Assafiri says.

“We must address it at the
micro-level and take
personal responsibility.
Maybe we’re not reaching the
anti-Bendigo mosque types,
but we’re creating a model
of starting genuine
conversations that can be
taken around Australia.
We’re creative and we’re
brave and we’re trying.

“And people can always learn
more, can always be more
sincere and more authentic.”

CHANNEL Nine’s controversial
homegrown comedy series Here
Come the Habibs kicked off
TV last night but it seems
some viewers didn’t quite
know what to make of it.

The new sitcom has been the
topic of heated debate
in recent weeks and was met
with claims of “casual
racism” before it even
premiered.

But it proved to be a
ratings success for Channel
Nine with 1.249 million
people tuning in, second
only to Channel Seven’s My
Kitchen Rules.

Those who did tune in didn’t
appear deeply offended by
the show’s representation of
the Habib clan, a
Lebanese-Australian family
from Sydney’s western
suburbs who win the Lotto
and move to a mansion in the
exclusive suburb of
Vaucluse, angering the white
snobs next door. However
those who tuned in seemed to
agree on one thing: the
first episode was rife with
stereotypes, terrorist
references and too many
mentions of the Cronulla
riots.

Some seemed to think it was
a poor rip off of The
Beverly Hillbillies, others
were confused by what genre
the series fell into, while
some simply said they “tried
to laugh”.

Here’s what folks were
saying on social media after
episode one went to air.

Far-right anti-Islamic group
United Patriots Front
appears to have chosen the
wrong Queensland town for
the launch of its as-yet
unregistered political
party, Fortitude.

Sharing a name with the
failed Border Force
operation which embarrassed
the Abbott government last
year, the United Patriots
Front announced its plans to
launch its official
political arm, Fortitude, in
Toowoomba, a designated
Refugee Welcome Zone, last
month.

Led by "Chairman" Blair
Cottrell, who has previously
expressed pro-Nazi views on
social media, including
advocating hanging a photo
of Adolf Hitler in every
classroom, and a "locked
inner-circle" to protect
against
"infiltration/internal
subversion" Fortitude, which
is yet to appear on
Electoral Commission sites
as a registered political
party, made its policies
publicly available on its
website ahead of its launch.

Claiming to be "the first
Aussie political party borne
of a street movement",
Fortitude supports "an
immediate stop on all
further Muslim immigration",
"cease construction of all
Mosques – destroy plans for
new Mosques", "cross
examination of all members
of Parliament/members of the
institutions and community
groups with significant
influence over local
government and public
education curriculum" and "a
federal indictment for
conspiracy and treason to be
issued to mainstream media
organs (sic) suspected of
undermining and
deconstructing the
Australian Nationality".

But it appears to have
picked the wrong town to
begin spreading its message,
with Toowoomba community
leaders – who have actively
taken a stance against
xenophobia and racism within
the Darling Downs town –
working to "deny the group
oxygen" at their party
launch by ignoring it.

Mr Cottrell and his
supporters have bragged on
their website of the
"indispensable" attention
counter-protests have
brought the group, claiming
"its obsessive rantings,
lack of emotional control
and violent counter-protests
have forced us into the
faces of hundreds of
thousands – or millions – of
Australian people who would
otherwise have never known
we existed".

Toowoomba's community
leaders have refused "to
play along", declining to
even comment publicly on the
event and have actively
discouraged any form of
counter-protest or movement
against the group's party
launch on Saturday.

"We know about it, but we
are not acknowledging it and
have asked the community to
do the same," one opponent,
who asked for anonymity,
told Fairfax Media.

"We want them to know that
they can take their
rent-a-crowd, their twisted
ideologies elsewhere, that
Toowoomba is not the
conservative right-wing
capital they think it is,
that people here, the
leaders here, support
refugees and that the UFP's
views are not welcome here.

"Yes, there have been
problems and the fire at the
mosque [last April] was a
bad time for the town, but
the town has rallied around
its Muslim community. We
welcome all refugees. There
are isolated pockets, like
anywhere, of people who
share this group's views but
the majority don't.

"The networks we have here
are extremely progressive,
there is a lot happening
here, you don't have to go
to Brisbane for the 'wide
world' anymore and we are
not standing for this.

"But we don't have to engage
with them, because that is
what they want. We have
disruptive technology, we
have social media and that
is what hurts them the most.

"How do you best inform
people? Not with conflict,
but with reason and logic.
And that is what we are
going to do."

Another opponent agreed and
said community sentiment was
against the group, but in
support of the "oxygen
starvation strategy".

"They get off on the images
and news of people yelling
at them, of competing
protests. Toowoomba says no.
To them, and giving them
what they want."

Fortitude launch events have
also been planned for Orange
in New South Wales and
Bendigo in Victoria.

The United Patriots Front
was formed after a fracture
emerged within Reclaim
Australia mid-last year.
Since then, supporters for
both groups have engaged in
a war of words on social
media, creating videos
airing grievances and
attacking each group, and
individuals within those
groups.

UPF was contacted for
comment.

Queensland Police Service
said it was aware of the
proposed meeting of the
United Patriots Front in
Toowoomba and would "respond
appropriately" to any public
safety concerns, adding that
"police have been
communicating with all
interested parties and will
continue to do so".

Interim Islamic College
principal Dr Lynda MacLeod with
students of the school.

SA: ENROLMENTS at the
Islamic College of SA have
dived more than 30 per cent
as families abandon it in
the wake of a tumultuous
year of parent protests,
board sackings and funding
woes.

But the school says it is
confident of winning back
community support and
regaining its government
funding for good.

Student numbers fell from
691 to 595 over the course
of last year. There were 521
enrolments for Term 1 this
year but when school began
last week, 40 of those did
not turn up.

Both the federal and state
governments suspended
funding late last year over
governance and financial
issues, after months of
parent protests culminated
in the dumping of the school
board.

The Commonwealth money was
quickly reinstated for first
term but is not confirmed
beyond that, while state
funds remain frozen until a
review is finalised.
Acting principal Dr Lynda
MacLeod said the school was
receiving plenty of
enrolment inquiries.

“We are confident that as
our reputation grows, so
will student numbers,” she
said.

“There is a really positive
vibe at the school (and)
many of our staff say it is
the best start to a term
that they can remember.”

Former Elders and TAFE SA
executive Miriam Silva
chairs a new board alongside
financial planner Peter
Khoury, former television
journalist and arts and
education worker Paula
Nagel, Australian Federation
of Islamic Councils
president Hafez Kassem, and
parents Amina Gaco and Bayan
Mohamed.

Ms Silva said the college
was “ticking every box for
compliance under the Federal
Education Act” and “hopeful
of an early resolution” with
the state authorities. It is
understood the board
believes state funding will
be reinstated once
enrolments are finalised
later this month.

Mother Souraya Serhan, who
was among the old board’s
fiercest critics over
falling academic standards,
alleged financial
mismanagement and the
sackings of popular
teachers, said parents were
being kept much better
informed by the new, highly
credentialed management.

“It’s like chalk and cheese
really,” she said.

Ms Serhan expected
confidence in the new board
would lead to a turnaround
in enrolments.

The college was one of six
Australian Federation of
Islamic Councils schools
issued noncompliance notices
from the Federal Government
in October.

On Monday, the Federal
Government revoked funding
from Malek Fahd, an AFIC
school in southwest Sydney
that is Australia’s largest
Islamic school. Funding will
cease on April 8 on the
grounds that money set aside
for education was being
spent in other areas.

The show deals with the idea
that Western media does not
know how to deal with
Islamic terrorism.Sami Shah
is a well-travelled expat
Pakistani comic who explores
his existential journey in
becoming an apostate to
Islam.

Shah has a growing
reputation as a comedian,
with a guest appearance on
QI and also as an author of
a novel about his time in
Australia. This has meant
his show has a larger
mainstream audience, and
Shah revels in this! He uses
his warm personality to
break down cultural
prejudices and does not take
himself too seriously. He is
a well-educated man – as he
studied journalism in his
native country before become
a professional comedian.
Shah’s intellect combined
with cleverly chosen visual
aids makes all his concepts
easy to understand.

This performance displays
Shah’s strong understanding
of Islam. It makes sense,
seeing as he was born into a
devout Islamic family. They
being from the small group
of Muslims, in the Shiite
sect. This can be broken
down even further, which he
does and describes how as a
child he did not question
his faith. It was not until
teasing from his Sunni
classmates did he see the
darker side.

What is exceptional about
this comedy show is Shah’s
ability to present a serious
topic in a light manner. He
is very likeable on stage,
highlighted by his ability
to get an audience member to
read facts about Islam that
can only be said by a white
male! Sami Shah:
Islamofarcist is a wonderful
theme based comedy show for
those who want to think
about the world they live
in.

In a recent article in The
Sunday Times the Australian
Liberty Alliance announced
with some considerable
fanfare that Dr Marion
Hercock was to be their new
senate candidate. Dr Hercock
is an academic at the
University of WA.

I am on one of the UWA’s
Equity and Inclusion
committees and immediately
raised the matter with the
Deputy Vice Chancellor. In
my letter I indicated that I
felt that there was little
that UWA could do to impact
her employment. This was
because everyone is entitled
to have their own views and
universities have
traditionally been the
breeding ground for
dissenting and opposing
views to those held in the
mainstream. Universities
have been the venue of
political differences and
this must always be
preserved. Let me explain
however, what my opposition
is to the views of Dr
Hercock.

First let us look at what it
is that this person
advocates: (I have added the
emphasis in bold).

“Senate candidate Marion
Hercock said the Australian
Liberty Alliance was
“interested in freedom of
speech, maintaining our
western values, individual
liberty and a small
government”.

However, Ms Hercock admitted
the party’s primary focus
was anti-Islamic.

“Most of all we are
concerned about stopping the
Islamisation of Australia,
which we see as a growing
threat to our society,” she
said.

Ms Hercock said she
opposed letting people of
Islamic faith immigrate to
Australia.

“We stand on reducing
Islamic immigration, for
example these Syrians who’ve
come here, they would be
much better off in a country
with similar values like
Saudia Arabia or Oman.”

But Ms Hercock rejected
accusations her party
harboured a racist element.
“People from alien cultures
are better off going
somewhere they will find
more familiar,” she said.

When pressed for examples of
the “encroachment of Islamic
culture and laws upon
Australian values” she cited
the existence of prayer
rooms.

“The new stadium has a
prayer room which nobody
else will be allowed in, and
also Halal certification;
why should everyone else
have to pay for Halal?” she
said.

Ms Hercock said she had no
problems with Christianity
as it had long been part of
Australian culture.

“Well, Christians aren’t
out to kill people,” she
said.

“Several” people joined the
party, according to an
Australian Liberty Alliance
media statement.”

Let me address these matters
in turn:

1. Islamisation of
Australia. The current
population of Muslim faith
adherents in Australia is
2%. This has not changed
significantly for some
considerable time. The
Islamisation is hardly
significant.
2. Non migration of Muslims
to Australia. Clearly a
statement of xenophobia and
religious bias.
3. Prayer room at the
stadium. The three prayer
rooms at the stadium are not
Muslim only prayer rooms.
They are MULTI-FAITH rooms,
Ms Hercock. See this article
in The West from Daniel
Emerson, here: and here:
4. Halal certification: The
senate inquiry into Halal
certification of foods
concluded the following
observations and
recommendations:

1. The committee
recommends that food
manufacturers clearly
label products which
have received third
party certification.
2. The committee
recommends that the
government, through the
Department of
Agriculture, consider
the monitoring and
compliance of Halal
certification of meat
for export; and becoming
the sole signatory on
the government Halal
certificate.
3. The committee
recommends that the
government, through
bilateral and
multilateral forums,
promote greater
acceptance of a
‘whole–of-country’,
government-led Halal
certification system.
4. The committee
recommends that the
government consider
requiring certification
bodies to register their
operations under
certification
trademarks.
5. The committee
recommends that the
government consider
requiring that Halal
certification of goods
in the domestic market
comply with the standard
agreed for export.
6. The committee
recommends that the
Halal certification
industry consider
establishing a single
Halal certification
authority and a single
national registered
certified trademark.

5. The committee recommends
that meat processors clearly
label products sourced from
animals subject to religious
slaughter.
6. Note that there is
nothing about stopping Halal
certification. In fact, the
committee found that it was
an extremely lucrative
market that Australia needed
to be involved in.
7. Killing by Christians:
There is ample material
around that highlights the
verses of the Bible that
call for killing and
violence. Responding that
Christians aren’t actually
doing it is facile. The
likelihood of a terror
attacker being Non Muslim is
much higher than that of the
person being Muslim. That
data has been provided by
the FBI and other law
enforcement agencies.
“Terrorism Is a Real Threat
… But the Threat to the U.S.
from Muslim Terrorists Has
Been Exaggerated. An FBI
report shows that only a
small percentage of
terrorist attacks carried
out on U.S. soil between
1980 and 2005 were
perpetrated by Muslims.”

Having addressed each of Dr
Hercock’s comments above,
let me emphasise my issue
with this whole matter. I
have no issue whatsoever
with Dr Hercock being a
candidate for any political
party of her choosing. I
also have no issue with
dealing with matters she
raises that are factually
correct. Nothing above is
correct. But far more
importantly for me is the
issue of the type of
teaching that this person
will be imparting to the
students at UWA. The total
student enrolment at UWA is
around 24,547 (as at 2015).
Assuming that UWA has a
culturally and
linguistically diverse
population slightly lower
than the rest of WA society
(around 35%), say 30% will
give us a CaLD population in
UWA of around 7300 students.
Add to that a CaLD staff
population of around a
further 1000 (total staff
3677).

So, this person who is
perpetuating falsehoods
based on her own xenophobia
will be in a working
environment with around 8300
people of CaLD background.
And she will be imparting
some of that xenophobia and
religious intolerance to
some of those people. This
promises a very poor long
term outcome.

We all know what impact our
teachers can have on our
minds and attitudes.

Teachers have the potential
to formulate the outlook of
our future generations. To
have someone with the level
of bias and hatred that Dr
Hercock demonstrates does
not bode well for a healthy
multicultural and multi
ethnic community as we hope
to have in Australia.

Now to sit back and await
any intervention by the
Federal Ministers for
Multiculturalism and
Education! I suspect that
the icicles will be forming
on the walls of Hades before
that happens.

Ahmad Hussam is a producer
who made it his mission to
get Netflix to stream his
original series ‘Salahadin’—
a show that chronicles the
life of the 12th century
Muslim leader, Salahadin
Eyyubi.

He played a big role in the
regaining of Jerusalem and
became the first Muslim
leader of Egypt and Syria.
In September 2015 the
producers of the show
started the hashtag #NetflixListen
to make ‘Salahadin’
available on Netflix. And
his voice has been heard.
People all around the world
were showing support to the
series and it got even
trending on twitter.

Netflix invited him to pitch
his idea, but unfortunately
it didn’t make it. But Ahmad
Hussam has proved in 2015
that if you really want
something, you don’t just
sit and wait, you just do
it.

Hassan II Mosque, Morocco
The Grande Mosquée Hassan II
proudly supports the world’s
tallest minaret, at 210
metres. The world’s third
largest mosque, it is the
only such building in
Morocco that non-Muslims can
enter. It stands proud on
the seafront in Casablanca,
and the seabed is visible
through the glass floor in
the hall.

While jihadist movements
continue to expand their
reach, anti-Muslim bigotry
is becoming more and more
mainstream. Both narratives
mean to deny the possibility
of meaningful coexistence.
Which is the identity and
the reality of thirty
million of us.

Thirty million Western
Muslims, spread out across
Europe (excluding Russia),
the United States, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand.
But though we had every
reason to speak out, we have
barely begun to come
together.

When we are talked about,
it’s either as a problem
(terrorism) to be solved, or
as the solution
(counter-terrorism) to the
problem we’re held
responsible for. We have
little to no relevance
outside national security.

And because we do not seem
to matter, we might begin to
feel as if we do not exist.

I will not excuse myself by
saying that we could not
have known how bad it would
have gotten, or that the
forces arrayed against our
narratives were too
entrenched. I will not
soften the blow, either, by
hoping it is always darkest
before dawn. Because it may
get darker.

God does not change the
condition of a people until
they change themselves. I
ask myself how we have
gotten to this juncture. I
reflect on what I could have
done differently. If my
life’s experiences can be of
any benefit, even as a
cautionary tale, then I
offer them.

What follows is neither
exhaustive nor conclusive,
but an outline for what you
can do, and what I think you
must do, to reverse this
state of affairs, to help
build the kinds of
communities our history and
heritage promises we can.

Part I covers our relations
to the wider world; Part II
concerns our own communities
and identities.

Part II: The stuff we are
made of :

7. The Caliph is dead,
long live the Caliphate

The project of a statist,
authoritarian Caliphate is
the single greatest obstacle
to Muslim unity. The
politicization of Islam
immediately transforms the
joy of cooperative action
into hostile—even
violent—disagreement,
dividing and harming the
people and places we mean to
help. In fact, not only does
jihadism do nothing for
suffering Muslims, it
increases suffering in the
world. It is a disaster.

Political Islam, while a
dead-end for much of the
Muslim world, would be still
worse for Western Islam. You
must work to build a more
democratic, pluralistic and
tolerant West. But this does
not mean you forego your
moral commitments to your
co-religionists, nor that
you ignore or deny what
makes your religion unique.
Our generation made that
mistake.

Nature, Islam, and nearly
everything else, abhors a
vacuum. If you refuse to
provide positive models for
our religious values, these
values will not disappear.
Other, worse models will
prosper. Because they are,
at least, an answer. What is
your answer to the
Caliphate? To Islamic unity?
Do not merely say, “your
idea is wrong,” but “here is
why your idea is wrong,” and
more importantly, “here is
mine.”

By building ever larger
institutions, non-profits,
regional religious
federations, and promoting
cooperation between the
democracies of the West, you
can (and you must) model a
new form of Muslim unity,
one which enables Muslims to
pool their resources without
setting them at odds with
each other, or holding one
another hostage to mutually
exclusive claims. That can
be your answer, your way
forward, your way of
empowering your community,
and your country.

Why, after all, would
Western Muslims pursue a
narrative that set Islam and
the West at odds?

I hope, if you can, that you
go to the Alhambra in Spain,
or the Gazi Husrev Beg
Mosque in Bosnia. Not just
because these are proofs of
Islam’s long history in the
West, but because they will
give you hope. You may see
times far worse than these.
In those dark days, remember
those places. Remember who
built them.

In 1258, the Mongols
destroyed Baghdad. It was,
perhaps, the nadir of
Islamic civilization. But
the Alhambra, and Husrev
Beg’s mosque, were built
after 1258. The story of
Islam has its bright
chapters, and its dim
chapters, but there is no
single direction to our
narrative. Read, God
commands. In order that you
may write.

Lupe Fiasco has been around
since about 2006, and boy,
was I obsessed with this
song when it first came out.

He's often interviewed about
his experience of being a
Muslim rapper, and his music
often includes references to
Islam, including a track
later in the playlist called
"Hi-Definition," which
features Snoop Dogg (who
converted to to Islam back
in 2009, but now says he's a
Rastafarian).

Donald Trump wants Muslims
banned from entering the US –
but without them the country
would be a much poorer place

Donald Trump with legendary
boxer and Muslim, Muhammad Ali.

What have Muslims ever done
for America? If your sole
source of information were
Donald Trump, you’d think
that the answer was not much
– apart from murdering its
citizens and trying to
destroy its values. The
Republican presidential
hopeful has called for a
halt to Muslims entering the
US until American
authorities “can figure out”
Muslim attitudes to the US
in the wake of last week’s
killings in San Bernardino.
If only, you might well
think, Scotland had had the
same thought about Trump
before he was allowed in to
blight Aberdeenshire with
another of his golf resorts.

What Trump doesn’t seem to
grasp is his own country’s
history, and how many
American achievements worth
celebrating are the work of
the kind of people – Muslims
– he wants to keep out.

Here, then, is a guide to
some of the things Muslims
have done for the US. It’s
not an exhaustive list – but
it’s still more impressive
than what Trump has done for
his homeland.

Fighting injustice

After the end
of slavery in the US, many
African Americans began to
move to cities in large
numbers.

But because
of restrictive housing and
employment policies, the
result was that many lived
in troubled ghettos.

In such a
context, some African
Americans returned to what
they believed to be the
religion of their ancestors.

Many of them
were attracted, during the
1950s and 1960s, to the
brilliant oratory of a
spokesman for the Nation of
Islam, who was born Malcolm
Little in 1925, but became
famous as Malcolm X, the
Muslim convert who cast off
his slave name and exhorted
African-Americans to cast
off the shackles of racism
“by any means necessary”,
including violence – a
message contrary to his
fellow civil rights activist
Dr Martin Luther King, who
called for non-violent civil
disobedience. “I don’t even
call it violence when it’s
in self-defence,” he said
once. “I call it
intelligence.”

Carbon-dating of
a fragment of
text kept at
Birmingham
University
provokes unholy
row

Scholars split
by claim that
Koran scrap
rewrites story
of Islam

When chocolate
magnate Edward
Cadbury funded
the acquisition
of some 3,000
Middle Eastern
manuscripts in
the 1920s, he
did so in the
hope that it
would turn
Birmingham into
a global focal
point for
religious
research.

Some 90 years
later, the
Quaker
philanthropist’s
aspirations have
been realised in
spectacular
fashion in the
form of four
pages of the
Koran in early
Arabic script
which have
sparked fierce
debate over
whether they
could rewrite
the founding
story of Islam.

Leading Oxford
academics this
week said carbon
dating of the
parchment, which
suggested it
dated from
between 568-645
AD, may change
our
understanding of
the way in which
Islam’s holy
book was
compiled.

But the
assertion that
the document,
kept at
Birmingham
University, is
part of one of
the world’s
oldest Korans –
and could
possibly date
from the early
years of the
Prophet
Mohamed’s life,
which is
generally
thought to have
been between 570
to 632 – is
strongly
disputed by
other scholars.

The
Independent

Anti-Islam
party beats drum
in Mandurah

WA: A NEW
political party
launched last
year by
controversial
Dutch politician
Geert Wilders
held a public
meeting in
Mandurah
last Thursday
night, with the
aim of signing
up members.

Senate candidate
Marion Hercock
said the
Australian
Liberty Alliance
was “interested
in freedom of
speech,
maintaining our
western values,
individual
liberty and a
small
government”.

However, Ms
Hercock admitted
the party’s
primary focus
was
anti-Islamic.

“Most of all we
are concerned
about stopping
the Islamisation
of Australia,
which we see as
a growing threat
to our society,”
she said.

Ms Hercock said
she opposed
letting people
of Islamic faith
immigrate to
Australia.

“We stand on
reducing Islamic
immigration, for
example these
Syrians who’ve
come here, they
would be much
better off in a
country with
similar values
like Saudia
Arabia or Oman.”

Mandurah Mail

'Violence
more common' in
Bible than
Quran, text
analysis reveals

The Old
Testament was
found to be more
than twice as
violent as the
Quran
An analysis into
whether the
Quran is more
violent than the
Bible found
killing and
destruction
occur more
frequently in
the Christian
texts than the
Islamic.

Investigating
whether the
Quran really is
more violent
than its
Judeo-Christian
counterparts,
software
engineer Tom
Anderson
processed the
text of the Holy
books to find
which contained
the most
violence.

In a blog post,
Mr Anderson
explains: "The
project was
inspired by the
ongoing public
debate around
whether or not
terrorism
connected with
Islamic
fundamentalism
reflects
something
inherently and
distinctly
violent about
Islam compared
to other major
religions."

Using text
analytics
software he had
developed, named
Odin Text, he
analysed both
the New
International
Version of both
the Old and New
Testaments as
well as an
English-language
version of the
Quran from 1957.

It took just two
minutes for his
software to read
and analyse the
three books.

By categorising
words into eight
emotions - Joy,
Anticipation,
Anger, Disgust,
Sadness,
Surprise,
Fear/Anxiety and
Trust - the
analysis found
the Bible scored
higher for anger
and much lower
for trust than
the Quran.

Further analysis
found the Old
Testament was
more violent
than the New
Testament, and
more than twice
as violent as
the Quran.

The Independent

Experience of
being a Muslim
convert in
Britain

I'm a
middle-aged,
white Scottish
man who
converted to
Islam without
ever meeting a
Muslim. This is
how

It's important
to remember the
distinction
between written
Islamic
teachings and
culture in the
real world.
After 18 months,
I went to my
first mosque and
met other
Muslims properly
for the first
time

How does a
middle-aged,
white Scottish
man living in
the Scottish
Highlands end up
becoming a
Muslim -
especially when
he hasn't
properly met a
Muslim in his
life?

For me, it all
started when I
heard the call
to prayer from a
local mosque
while on a beach
holiday in
Turkey. It woke
something up
inside me, and
inspired me to
begin a
spiritual quest.

Back home in
Inverness, I
went to the
local bookshop,
bought a Qur'an
and started to
read. While
reading, I
always asked God
to guide me on
the journey I
had set out on.

A lot of
praying. A lot
of time on my
knees.

The Qur'an
really shook me.
It's quite a
scary book to
read because it
tells you so
much about
yourself. Some
things that I
found out about
myself I didn’t
like. So I
decided to make
some changes.
I knew that I
could stop
reading the
Qur'an and halt
the process at
any time, but I
also knew that
would mean
giving up
something really
important.

And I knew what
the end result
of this process
would be: I
would be a
Muslim.

So I kept on
reading. I read
it three times,
looking for the
catch. But there
was no catch; I
was quite
comfortable with
everything.

The difficult
part in all of
this was
wondering who I
would become.
Would I become
strange, dress
differently,
speak
differently in
the eyes of
others?

What would my
family, friends
and workmates
think of me?
Most
importantly,
what would I
think about
myself? Would I
like who I
became?

The Independent

Every Girl
Should Read This
Before Her
Nikkah!

The Nikkah Nama
is a social
contract
basically.

And the reason
the girls have
to sign it first
is because at
the end of it
you get a pretty
big blank space
to write down
any extra
conditions you
want and the guy
HAS to follow it
all legally. You
know how they
make you sign
the whole “do
you want the
right to divorce
or not?”,
clause? Yea that
is an addition
they make.

You can
literally add in
anything there,
pocket money,
divorce
conditions,
house work, your
own job
details/requirements
or any other
kind of
commitment. At
the time of the
Nikkah of Hazrat
Fatima and
Hazrat Ali (R.A),
the Holy Prophet
(S.A.W.W) added
the clause that
Hazrat Ali
(R.A.) could not
remarry as long
as Hazrat Fatima
(R.A.) was still
alive.

Huh? Huh? HUH?!?
See? How smart
is that? And
many times
people don’t
tell you this,
but it is a
right given to
you by Allah
Himself, and do
not let anyone,
i repeat, DO NOT
LET ANYONE TAKE
IT AWAY FROM
YOU.

Other facts
include:
1.The money you
make from your
job, is YOUR
money. Your
husband cannot
take it from you
or ask you for
it or whatever.
It is YOURS. And
YOU are not
inclined to
spend it on the
house or
anything other
than yourself.
2.The husband
HAS to pay you a
pocket money for
personal
expenses outside
of what he gives
you for the
monthly budget
and what not.
3.When you
breast feed your
child, you have
the right to ask
your husband to
pay for it, and
he cannot deny
that to you. It
is your right.
4.Consent to
intimacy and the
level of
intimacy is also
your right. Even
in a marriage.
And if he does
not take your
consent, it is
marital rape and
is recognized in
the court of
law.
5.You are under
no obligation to
give any of your
heritage to your
husband and
neither can he
force you to
give him any
part in your
will or your
heritage.
6.In Islam, the
man is to pay
for the wedding
out of his own
pocket. Not the
girl, not the
girl’s family
and not the
guy’s family
either. The guy
himself. To
whatever extent
he is capable of
spending, that
is his job.
7.THERE IS NO
CONCEPT OF
JAHAIZ (Dowry)
and you can
sue/file a
report against
any family who
asks you or
demands you or
your family to
give money or
any other form
of material
possession as
“marital gifts”.

And these are
just some of the
many rights we
have for women
in ISLAM.

The Inbox

If you haven’t heard of it before ... we currently
have 25 Community Correspondents who have been
telling stories from their diverse communities for
the last two years. We've been hearing what people
all over Brisbane are thinking about and what's
important to them. This year, we are looking for
more people to join the existing Community
Correspondent team.

Do I need to live in Brisbane?
If you live in Brisbane or surrounding areas -
Logan, Redlands, Somerset, Moreton Bay and Ipswich -
you can apply. Unfortunately if you live on the Gold
Coast, Sunshine Coast or Toowoomba you can't apply
as your areas are covered by other ABC radio
stations.

I’m not a radio broadcaster, how would I do it?
All you need is a smart phone, access to a computer
and internet connection. You submit story ideas from
your community, the 612 ABC Brisbane programs team
will review your ideas and select what is of most
interest to their program and then you will put
together a radio package - it can be as simple or
fancy as your skills allow, and often simple is
best. Your story could get a run on Breakfast with
Spencer, Mornings with Steve, Afternoons with Kelly,
Drive with Emma, Evenings with David or Weekends
with Tim.

How many stories would I need to do?
We expect our Community Correspondents to produce
one story per month.

I have story ideas but have no idea how to put
together something for radio?
If you are successful, you will be invited to attend
training courses - receiving first-hand training
from the presenters and staff at ABC Local Radio.
You will also receive ongoing guidance and direction
from the Community Correspondent Manager.

JOHANNESBURG - Former
President Nelson Mandela’s grandson
Mandla Mandela has remarried. The
Nikah took place Saturday at the 9th
Street Masjid Hidayatul Islam of
Sheikh Auwaldeen in the Cape Town
suburb of Kensignton.

He confirmed his union to Rabia
Clarke on Sunday after news of the
ceremony sparked comments on a
Facebook page.

The announcement was followed by a
statement from Mandela himself.

“I am honoured and delighted to
announce my marriage to Rabia
Clarke, in Cape Town, on 6 February
2016. I wish to extend my heartfelt
gratitude to Rabia's parents, her
extended family and the Muslim
community, for welcoming me into
their hearts.”

He adds “Although Rabia and I were
raised in different cultural and
religious traditions, our coming
together reflects what we have in
common: We are South Africans.”

According to reports, the chief of
the Mvezo Traditional Council
converted to Islam about two months
ago.

This is Mandela’s fourth marriage
following his divorce battle with
Tando Mabunu-Mandela.

Opinion by Muhammad Abdul
Bari, Muhammad Abdul Bari was the
secretary-general of the Muslim Council of
Britain 2006-10.

It is
essential that Cameron supports
Muslims rather than keep the
community under pressure and
continuous scrutiny.

UK: While
prejudiced comments on
Muslims by the United States
Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump
sickeningly help his
popularity within the US
political right, Britain's
overwhelming rejection of
his comments sends a clear
message that discrimination
and bigotry are not
acceptable in our robust
democracy.

In many ways, Britain
surpasses others when
dealing with minority and
disadvantaged people.
Successive Race Relations
Acts since 1965 and the
inclusion of the Racial and
Religious Hatred Act 2006 -
guarded by the robustness of
our judiciary and watchful
citizens - have contributed
to our current standing.

Regrettably, however, many
Muslims are now gripped with
nervousness for fear of
facing further scrutiny
because of the political
short-termism of the
government led by David
Cameron. His rigid policy on
anti-radicalisation, in
other words "Prevent"
agenda, has effectively
pigeon-holed activist
Muslims into the category of
non-violent extremists with
all the negative
connotations that label
brings.

Prevent has already proved
counter-productive. There
have been high-profile cases
of schoolchildren being
picked up for questioning -
one for saying the term
"eco-terrorism" and another
for wrongly spelling
"terrorist (terraced) house"
in the class; there is a
huge disquiet in the
community.

Unsubstantiated claims

Cameron's announcement to
the Conservative Party
conference last autumn on
supplementary schools
increased the anxiety. His
comment that Ofsted was to
inspect religious
educational institutions,
such as madrasas, which will
be shut down if they are
suspected of "filling
children's heads and hearts
with hate" sent a chilling
message to Muslims across
the country.

His assertion that "some of
these supplementary schools
were helping to incubate
divisions within society"
was challenged as not being
based on evidence. The
country's main umbrella
Muslim organisation, the
Muslim Council of Britain,
expressed concern and asked
the prime minister to
"substantiate" these serious
allegations.

Shye Ben Tzur,
Jonny Greenwood, and the
Rajasthan Express perform "Hu"
from their album Junun. Outtake
from Paul Thomas Anderson's film
documenting the recording.

INDIA:
Ben-Tzur — a Jewish composer
of Sufi Muslim Qawwali, or
religious devotional music —
in the Rajasthan region of
northwest India, where Ben-Tzur
has written and performed
his songs for more than a
decade. For three weeks,
they and a 19-member Indian
band, The Rajasthan Express,
recorded an album of Ben-Tzur’s
songs in a picturesque
15th-century Indian fort.

“We wanted to spend time
playing together, not just
go into a studio and record
an album,” Ben-Tzur told JTA.
“Recording the album was
maybe the excuse in order to
experience the music rather
than the other way around.”

Despite being an Israeli who
plays traditionally Muslim
music in a massive country
with very few Jews, Ben-Tzur
says he has always felt
accepted in India, in part
because he “has no agenda.”
He now primarily lives in
Tel Aviv, but spends large
amounts of time writing and
performing in India. (In a
country with a population of
some 1.25 billion, India has
approximately 180 million
Muslims and approximately
5,000 Jews.)

Ben-Tzur, 40, bearded and
with flowing long brown
hair, embodies the mixing of
cultures and religions that
his album represents: He
grew up in Israel but spent
most of his adult life
living in India. He learned
from Indian Muslim musical
teachers but still writes
lyrics in Hebrew. He is
married to an Indian Muslim
woman — the daughter of late
Sufi scholar Zahurul Hassan
Sharib — and his family,
including an 11-year-old
daughter, celebrates both
Jewish and Muslim holidays.

Ben-Tzur realizes his
journey from Israel, where
he once played in
Western-style rock bands, to
the world of spiritual
Muslim Indian music is a
highly unusual tale.
Ben-Tzur told JTA he was
touched by the openness and
accepting attitude of the
Indian Muslim community. He
said it was a welcome relief
from the religious and
political tensions he grew
up around in Israel.

One song on “Junun” is
called “Allah Elohim” —
named after the Muslim and
Jewish words for “God.” One
of its lines in Hebrew
translates this way: “To
Jews, I am a Jew, to
Muslims, a Muslim/ Whatever
language I speak, it means
the same thing.”

It’s a complex spirituality,
but when asked to explain
it, Ben-Tzur demurred.

To put the fun back in your routine and amp up
your fitness results, try some of the following:

• Re-energise by exercising with friends, or a
gym buddy
• Try jogging every other day instead of walking
• Try an outdoor bootcamp session and bounce off
other participants' energy
• To further boost results, do activities that
are challenging – exercises you wouldn’t
normally do
• Get adventures – stand up paddle boarding is a
great core blaster
• Indoor rock climbing is also a lot harder than
it seems
• Focus on what you know you can do, then take a
leap and step out of your comfort zone

When going through a detox, you'll find that not
only will you feel super hungry but you may also
feel tired, dizzy, nauseous or have
headaches/migraines. These programs will tell
you that these are normal symptoms... which they
are, however, this is because you are not doing
something beneficial for your body! Your body
will send you signals because it is deprived and
needs nourishment. Basically, it is trying to
tell you to stop and feed it!

Our bodies are amazing, and they have been
designed to work in our favour to keep us alive.
We have a liver which naturally "detoxes" our
body everyday, because that's its job. We don't
need to go through a detox to be healthy. Quit
the detox and just start by eating wholesome
nourishing foods.

KB says:
Falooda is a (somewhat decadent and indulgent)
cold dessert beverage popular in the Indian
subcontinent. Traditionally it is made from
mixing rose syrup, vermicelli, psyllium (ispaghol)
or basil (sabza/takmaria) seeds, tapioca pearls
and pieces of gelatin with milk or water. I make it often
in summer and it's dear hubby’s favourite
dessert (which apparently only his Mom knew how
to get perfect).

1. All Islamic Event dates given above are tentative and
subject to the sighting of the moon.

2. The Islamic date changes to the next day starting in
the evenings after maghrib. Therefore, exceptfor Lailatul
Mehraj,
Lailatul Bhahraat
and
Lailatul Qadr – these dates refer to the commencement of the event
starting in the evening of the corresponding day.

1. Daily Hadeeth reading From Riyadusaliheen,
After Fajar and after esha .
2. After school Madrassah for children Mon-Thu 5pm to 7pm

3. Adult Quran classes (Males) Monday and
Tuesday after esha for an hour.
4. Community engagement program every second Saturday of the
Month, interstate and overseas speakers, starts after
margib, Dinner served after esha, First program begins on
the 15 August.

5. Monthly Qiyamulail program every 1st
Friday of the month starts after esha.
6. Fortnight Sunday Breakfast program. After Fajar, short
Tafseer followed by breakfast.
7. Weekly Tafseer by Imam Uzair after esha followed by
dinner. Starts from 26 August.

For all activities, besides Adult Quran,
classes sisters and children are welcome.

Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the Crescents of Brisbane Team, CCN,
its Editor or its Sponsors, particularly if they eventually
turn out to be libellous, unfounded, objectionable,
obnoxious, offensive, slanderous and/or downright
distasteful.

It is the usual policy of CCN to
include from time to time, notices of events that some
readers may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are
often posted as received. Including such messages or
providing the details of such events does not necessarily
imply endorsement of the contents of these events by either
CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.

The best ideas
and the best feedback come from our community of readers. If you
have a topic or opinion that you want to write about or want
seen covered or any news item that you think might be of benefit
to the Crescents Community please e-mail ccn@crescentsofbrisbane.org.

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thoughts, feelings and ambitions for our community through CCN.

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